Author's Note: (Does anyone actually read these? lol) Here's the next chapter, thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it, it motivates me to write more:-) I have another LWD fic on the way, too, so look for that within the next few days! Alright, enjoy!


Casey couldn't stop thinking about Derek and the stricken look on his face when she had accused him of having an STD. But… it wasn't her fault that his reputation preceded him. Everyone at school thought that Derek was… sexually experienced, to say the least. Why would she have thought any differently?

"I just figured you knew me better than that," he had said quietly, almost like he was disappointed in her. Disappointed in her thinking that about him.

As she lied in bed thinking about him, Derek, in his bedroom next to hers, was lying in his own bed thinking about her.

It was sort of unfair of him to snap at Casey like he had, but he was embarrassed about telling her his secret that nobody—not even Sam—knew. But he didn't want Casey to have to think about that—STDs and whatnot. It just wasn't fair to her. Especially after what he had done.

He had taken his stepsister's virginity away. And he didn't even remember it.

She had a right to be angry with him, even though he couldn't remember the act at all. It was his party that they had gotten drunk at. A party that Casey didn't even want to have in the first place.

The only thing Derek did remember was Casey's lips.

How soft they had tasted. How she had put up a good duel with his tongue. How she closed her eyes and really got into the kiss. Both kisses—he remembered the slightly awkward public one during Spin the Bottle. And the one he had surprised her with when she was coming out of the bathroom. The rest of it seemed to be a haze.

A haze of sweet lips, wandering hands, and soft skin. And then waking up naked with Casey the next morning with a condom wrapper nearby.

He heard the faint sound of music emanating from Casey's bedroom and sat up. It was really late; what was she still doing up?


Casey couldn't sleep, so she turned on the radio to break the deafening silence surrounding her. As she got back into bed, she heard her door creak open.

"Case?" came a soft voice—one she recognized but had never heard in such a quiet tone before. She looked up to see Derek in a T-shirt in his boxers, staring over at her tentatively.

"Yeah?" she blinked up at him, wondering just what he was doing in her room at… she glanced at her clock… one in the morning?

"Can't sleep?" he asked, moving into her room now.

She shook her head. "No. You?" she asked, although the answer was quite obvious.

"No," he replied, sitting down at the foot of her bed without invitation.

There was an awkward pause.

"Casey—"

"Derek—"

They both began at the same time and then laughed quietly in amusement.

"You go ahead," Casey waved him on.

"No, you first," Derek insisted with a bit of a smirk still lingering on his lips.

Casey sucked in a deep breath. "I was just going to say that I was sorry again for…you know… assuming those things about you. It was unfair of me."

"Thanks," Derek said, looking down and playing with the fringe of her blanket absently.

"I don't really think you're that kind of person, Derek," she went on. "You know, who would just sleep with any girl just because he could."

He nodded slowly. "I was waiting for the right one."

Casey's eyes saddened a bit. "Yeah. Me too. I'm, uh, sorry that it was me."

"I'm not," Derek said so quietly that Casey didn't think that she had heard him right.

"What?" she asked, her blue eyes full of confusion.

Derek looked up at her. "I said that I'm not."

Casey stared at Derek in shock, speechless.

"I mean, I'm sorry that we both can't remember our first time or anything," Derek said quickly. "But Case… I'm not sorry that it was you. That you were my first…" he trailed off, actually seeming to be embarrassed over his proclamation.

"Why?" was all Casey could whisper.

Derek shrugged, looking away so he wouldn't have to look into her stunned eyes anymore. "You're not like other girls, Case. You would never throw yourself at me or any other guy for that matter. You have standards while most girls our age don't. You're… I don't know… special."

Casey felt a warm glow as Derek surprised her with these kind words.

"So… I'm glad that my first time was with someone special," Derek concluded, still not meeting Casey's eyes.

Casey studied the self-conscious, vulnerable guy at the edge of her bed. It was Derek only—stripped. Stripped of his macho attitude, his lame excuses, his lazy attitude, and his crude jokes. Just Derek.

And Casey liked the real Derek… a lot.

"Why doesn't anyone get to see this side of you?" she found herself asking.

Derek's eyes snapped over to hers. He definitely hadn't been expecting that. "Uh…" he rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "I've got a reputation to uphold. I'm captain of the hockey team. I'm popular. I can't be all…" he made a face, "like this."

"I like this side of you, though," Casey gave him a slow smile. "It's nice."

Derek shrugged, passing it off as if it was nothing. But inside, he was glad that she liked the exposed Derek Venturi. He cleared his throat. "So, uh… where do we go from here?"

Casey looked at the stepbrother she had disliked for so long. The one she had fought tooth and nail with for the past year. The one who teased her whenever he had the chance to. The one who went out with a different girl practically every night. The one that she had unintentionally lost her virginity to.

And she smiled, reaching over and taking his hand.

Derek glanced down at their interlocked hands, and let his eyes soften. He moved his eyes up to hers and they both smiled at each other.

Neither of them noticed Edwin and Lizzie spying on them in the darkness with their eyes wide and jaws dropped open. The two quickly ran off, not speaking until they were both safely in the game room.

"I told you it was a good idea to stay up all night spying," Lizzie said, keeping her voice low just in case.

Edwin nodded, his mind reeling. Derek and Casey? "What should we do?" he asked his stepsister, knowing that the two of them now held powerfully important information.

Lizzie bit her lip. Part of her wanted to go to confront Casey about it, but another part of her remembered the looks on her sister and oldest stepbrother's faces. She had never seen the two of them look so… open before. How Derek had told Casey that she was special. How Casey had looked at Derek with a sort of dreamy look in her eyes. How the two of them held each other's hands like they were in love.

"Nothing," Lizzie said, looking over at Edwin. "Nothing yet. I think they've got to figure it out for themselves first."

"Figure what out?" Edwin asked dumbly.

"That they're in love," Lizzie said as if it was a well-known fact. Casey wouldn't sleep with just anybody, she knew that for sure. She always had a clear, straight head on her shoulders.

Edwin's eyes bugged out at his stepsister. She was so wise… for a girl, of course. "They are?"

"Mmm-hmm," Lizzie nodded firmly. "Wasn't it obvious over there?"

Edwin thought about the look on his brother's face. He had never seen him like that before. Entranced. And he had smiled at Casey. A real, genuine smile that even Edwin had only seen a few times before. He nodded, slowly agreeing with Lizzie. Maybe she was right.